Avatar: The End of the World
by Lena Chang
Summary: The world is in ruins due to the countless wars between Korra and her enemies, before her untimely death, when Ba Sing Se was decimated. Hostility towards the Avatar and bending itself creates a dangerous world for the new Avatar-but he is needed more than ever to restore balance to the world, as the earth itself begins to crumble before their very eyes.


Book 1: Past

Chapter 1: The Arena

"Nobody can play rock polo as well as I can," Mirai said. It was the first day of summer term, and since Mirai and his friends weren't taking any classes this time around, there was plenty of time for Mirai to develop his new game.  
"It's not polo," Taksu said, "you cheat when you throw the rocks."  
"You cheat when you blow them up with fire," Mirai countered, a sly grin slowly creeping into his face.  
"I say fire is in the rules if your kind of rock throwing is allowed," Fasku, Taksu's older brother said. Fasku and Mirai were in the same year at the Republic City Academy.  
Mirai looked around the small courtyard. The old, dilapidated buildings on all sides made a bit of a hexagon shape, with alleyways coming inbetween the buildings. Mirai lived on one side with Grandmother Sen. Fasku and Taksu lived on the other side their father. Their father worked with the Collaborate, helping in the Fortified District-that is, the only district of the city that was not in shameful decay. He would not be back until late, which meant Mirai could throw some rocks and Fasku and Taksu could throw some fire, without any of them getting in trouble.  
"So it's a new game, with new rules. Let's give it a try." Mirai said, knowing he'd already won Fasku over. He was was in advanced defense classes at Republic City Academy and always like a challenge. Though Mirai was the same age, he'd decided not to take part in defense classes. He was more interested in renovation and restoration of the city, and his classes at Republic City Academy reflected that. Taksu, Fasku's younger brother, was always the harder one to convince when it came to things like this, especially when it had to do with things that were usually discouraged. Taksu just needed some motivation to help him think it was his idea.  
Mirai slowly lifted a small courtyard rock behind his back with earth bending. Taksu was busy telling Fasku why they shouldn't play when Mirai sent the rock flying at him.  
"Look out!" Mirai shouted, just as the rock was about to hit Taksu.  
Taksu lifted his hand and with a quick fire blast shattered the rock into dust.  
Mirai started to laugh uncontrollably.  
"The look on your face!" was all he could say.  
Fasku was laughing too, and soon Taksu was laughing.  
"Okay, we can play, but we can't punch any more holes in the walls, especially that one. It could come down any minute as it is."  
"Agreed."  
Mirai quickly laid out the rules for the new game. He would try to send his rocks past Fasku and Taksu. If any of Mirai's rocks hit the far wall or alley, Mirai would get a point. If the brothers stopped any of the rocks before they got to the middle line, they would get a point. Anything that fell in-between the middle line and the back of the courtyard were in the neutral zone and didn't count.  
"And...go!"  
Mirai started earth bending the rocks as fast as he could, trying to shoot them past Fasku and Taksu. Mirai was the best earth bender he had ever met, though it was hard to compare, since bending of any kind was forbidden in most parts of the world. But Mirai thought maybe he was a very talented earth bender, just the same.  
In the reverse, Fasku and Taksu were also very good fire benders. Fasku, at least, was very fast.  
Mirai couldn't get any of his rocks past them, but they also couldn't get any of their fire blasts to hit rocks before they crossed the middle line.  
Mirai decided to get a little more competitive, but at the same time, Fasku decided to get faster, too.  
Mirai was forming rocks as fast as he could, sometimes throwing them two at a time, to try to distract both at once. The space where he was standing was starting to become lower as he threw and he tripped and fell. At the same time, a fire blast went over, right where his head had been. And not even a second after that-  
"Taaaaakkkksssuuuu!" It was Grandmother Sen, calling from Mirai's apartment. She was not happy.  
Taksu and Fasku were standing next to each other, trying not to look guilty and failing miserably. Mirai, still laying on the ground, looked guiltiest of all, seeing as he had fallen into the hole his earth bending had made.  
Grandmother Sen filled the doorway on Mirai's side of the courtyard. She probably used to be a large lady, but now she was more of a medium lady, though with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, she looked just as formidable as ever.  
"What have I told you children about bending?" Her voice was clear and curt. That was how she talked when she was unhappy with Mirai or one of the other kids.  
"Don't make a ruckus," Taksu said guiltily.  
"That's right," Grandmother Sen said.  
Mirai looked up hopefully. Most parents would forbid them to bend, ever again. But not the feisty Grandmother Sen.  
Mirai started to get up, and started to repair the hole he'd made with his earth bending.  
"And by don't make a ruckus," Grandmother Han continued, "I mean, GO AWAY, or I will light my fire candle under your britches and then open the earth and swallow you all in a hole. And good riddance!"  
Grandmother Sen went back inside.  
"I think she wants us to play somewhere else," Fasku said.  
"Well..." Taksu was about to disagree, but Mirai interrupted before he could change their minds.  
"This match isn't over yet," Mirai said. "I still have to beat you."  
They left the courtyard, taking one of the alleyways toward one of the more open streets. The wide, cracked street they reached used to be a boulevard where buggies and carts would go just by pushing a lever. Now the boulevard was reduced to a path that wove around the various buildings that had crumbled onto its once broad surface.  
Mirai, Fasku, Taksu struck down in the direction that led toward the harbor. They rarely went this way-it was full of dangerous criminals-but it was the only place where they would find a flat area to play. The other direction led to what they called the Spirit Wilds, a withered forest that was said used to be full of life. Most likely though, it was haunted, and few who went in ever came out.  
Mirai led the way into the salty wind that came off of the harbor. He wished the wind would blow a little harder sometimes so that he could smell the freshness of it in their little house. He liked how the water sprayed off the harbor over there-  
"Hey!" Yelled all three boys as water crashed down from above them, seemly from nowhere. Childish cackles came from the other side of the rubble next to the road.  
Mirai pressed his feet into the dirt of the road. He could feel the kid through the ground. And, it helped that the kid was laughing.  
The other two boys stepped aside when they saw Mirai spread his feet into his rock stance and pushed his hands down and then out towards where the laughter was coming from. Mirai spread his hands apart to the sides at the last second and parted the rubble to reveal a boy, suddenly caught in a pile of mud, mid-laugh and all.  
"Caught you!" Mirai said, as he turned the mud into quicksand, so that the kid couldn't run away. He looked to be about twelve, with telltale blue eyes.  
"A water bender!"  
"That's right I am," the boy said defensively. "And you're an earth bender!" He said as he pointed at Mirai.  
"That's right I am, but at least I'm not a water bender."  
"There's nothing wrong with water benders, just like there's nothing wrong with any other kind of benders," the kid said.  
"Except for the avatar was a water bender, and bending is what caused all this mess," Fasku said as he gestured at the rubble surrounding them.  
"The avatar could bend all four elements, and she had many enemies to battle," the boy said.  
"Looks like somebody listens to too many stories from their old man," Fasku said mockingly.  
"Those stories are all just part of a bigger legend," Mirai said dismissively. "It would have been impossible for the avatar to have done all those things. If the avatar ever really existed in the first place."  
"Oh she existed, she did. My gramps has lots of stories about her. He tells them to me when I get home from Republic City Academy."  
Mirai sized the kid up. He wasn't very big, but he was quick enough with water. And if he went to the academy, that meant he was at least a little smart. He might even do a good job in a bending match.  
"What's your name?"  
"My name is Honyo, what's yours?"  
"I'm Mirai, and this is Fasku and Taksu. They're fire benders. And we're looking for a place to play a friendly game of bending. Care to join?"  
Fasku, Taksu and Honyo stared at Mirai in surprise.  
"You'll let me come with you?"  
"Sure, why not? Then we can have even teams."  
Mirai gave Honyo a hand and helped him out of the quick sand.  
"So you go to the academy?" Mirai said.  
"Yeah. I'm just in the basic classes right now. But they said in the autumn term I might be able to take some intermediate classes. Then maybe I'll be with some kids my own age."  
"Then shouldn't you stay in basic?" Fasku said with a snigger.  
"Shh!" Mirai said to silence Fasku's joke.  
"Why are you only in basic now?" Mirai said.  
"I've been traveling with my grandfather. We came in on a boat two years ago, before they closed the harbor. They wouldn't let me start school until they knew I was trustworthy."  
Mirai nodded. That was part of the rules. Refugees had to prove they could contribute to the rebuilding of Republic City before the could take advantage of the academy or apply for fortified housing.  
"I know a place where we can play a bending game," Honyo said.  
"Where?"  
"By the water," he said, pointing towards the harbor.  
"Hey! Is this some kind of a trick?" Taksu said. "Are you going to lead us into a trap?"  
"If I were going to lead you into a trap, I'd take you over there." Honyo pointed in almost the same direction, only past the harbor. "That's where the pirate camp is. They don't bother coming over here, because no one lives in this district. Seeing as all the buildings in this district are just waiting for someone to walk in them and crumble down on top of them."  
"You're lying! I bet the pirate camp is on this side of the harbor!" Fasku said.  
"He's not lying," Mirai said, eying him. "But why would you know exactly where the pirate camp is?"  
Honyo looked down at the ground, but answered defensively. "They didn't find me. I was trying to find a good place to water bend in secret, and I almost walked into their camp. Their ships are hidden in the next bay. That's when I heard them talking about how dangerous the buildings in this district are. I thought it would be the perfect place to practice my bending. Then you came along." Honyo laughed. "You should have seen your faces when my water ball dropped on your heads! Um, sorry about that, by the way."  
"It's okay." Mirai said. Taksu and Fasku nodded in agreement.  
"Lead us to the bending place!"  
The kids set off, with the youngest one leading the way.  
They really were in the empty district. This was the place that had been hit the hardest, back at the end of the golden age. Of the buildings that were left, none were habitable. Indeed, if anyone did try to walk in one of these buildings, it probably would crumble down on top of them.  
Honyo led them through the winding path that had been made on the once-wide boulevard. The piles of rubble were so high that it was hard to see very far ahead. Some piles of rubble had weeds growing up out of them, and the side protected from the wind was still ashy gray from the days of the death fire, when even the air was unbreathable.  
Suddenly, they all crouched low.  
Someone was approaching.  
A few someones.  
And...laughter.  
Mirai stood up, and so did Fasku. The other two stood up slowly so that they were all standing awkwardly as three girls came around the corner, blasting rubble out of their way as they went.  
"Um, hello Raedie," Fasku said almost a little embarrassed.  
"Hi," said one of the girls, who had striking golden eyes.  
"I've never seen so many people in the empty district before," Honyo said.  
"Me neither," said the girl whose name was Raedie. She turned to Fasku. "How come I haven't seen you in summer defense class?"  
"My father needed me to work around the courtyard district this summer. I'll still come to horn soundings, if there are any."  
"I think there will be. Hopefully they'll just be drills though," she said.  
"My name is Ellna," said the girl next to Raedie, who had emerald green eyes. "Raedie and I are classmates. And this-" she gestured to the smaller girl who was with them "-is my little sister Humora."  
"Nice to meet you," Mirai said. "I'm Mirai. This is Fasku, Tasku and Honyo. We're going to play a bending game. Want to come?"  
"Okay," Ellna said. "I know of a place."  
"Me too," said Honyo.  
"It's a building down on the water. There's a giant table in the middle and water around the edges of it. Perfect for bending games."  
"That's the place!" Honyo said.  
"Let's go!"  
They went along quickly now, with the two who knew the way in front.  
"Are you an earth bender?" Ellna said to Mirai as she turned and walked backwards. The ground was uneven, but it flattened out for her as she walked.  
"Yes," Mirai said, "but I can't move the ground from under my feet quite like that."  
"Thanks," Ellna said. "My mom taught me that. She was from Ba Sing Se."  
"My mom was from Ba Sing Se too! Both my parents, actually."  
"Really? Maybe they could get together sometime and talk about the old days. My dad never got to go to Ba Sing Se. He lived for many years in an earth bending academy before it was shut down."  
"I wish our parents could meet sometime," Mirai said sadly, "but my parents died, after they moved here to Republic City."  
"I'm sorry to hear that," Ellna said. "Maybe you could still meet my parents sometime. Maybe they can help remind you of your parents."  
"Thanks," Mirai said. "Maybe sometime."  
The group reached the water. A large building was practically sitting in the water, and a giant hole had been rent in its side long ago. Mirai and Ellna earth bended a path through the watery hole and into the giant building.  
At one point, it'd probably been quite magnificent, if that's the right word. But now, the ceiling was gone from most of it, and the seating rows-and there were many-were broken and cracked. But one thing still remained, directly in the center of the building: a large platform, with faded colors on it-dividing lines for two teams. Perfect for a game of bending.  
Mirai laughed, and with a running leap jumped onto the platform.  
"Let's play bending!"  
Mirai went into rulemaker mode.  
"Me, Fasku and Honyo will be on this side, Raedie, Ellna and um, you, will be on that side."  
"My name is Humora," Ellna's little sister said, trying to put spunk and attitude in her personality in one fell swoop.  
"Yes. Humora. And Taksu, your job is to figure out how to get up onto that small platform that's out of the way."  
"Awe, really?" Taksu said.  
"Well somebody has to be the judge, and you're the most fair judge," Mirai said.  
"Okay, fine," Taksu conceded, as he started his career in rock climbing.  
Mirai earthbended some rocks from the seating sections, two basically equal amounts for both him, Ellna and Humora to use. He gave the girls the slightly larger rock chunk, but he didn't think they'd be able to go through that much during the match.  
They made two rows oppostie each other on the platform. Mirai and Ellna were opposite each other as strong earthbenders, Fasku and Raedie opposed each other as firebenders, and the two smaller kids opposed each other.  
"Wait." Humora said. "He's a water bender? Wasn't the Avatar a water bender?" The disdain in her voice was clear.  
"Doesn't matter," Mirai said impatiently, "the Avatar isn't here."  
"He makes a good point," Honyo said with a persuasive nod.  
"Okay, are we ready to play?" Mirai said. "Last team with someone standing on the platform wins. On Taksu's mark."  
"Ready!" Taksu said. Everyone got in their stances. Taksu waited for a moment to add dramatic effect.  
"Go!"  
The match went quickly. Mirai might have been a fast earth bender, but Ellna knew some different tricks and was able to keep Mirai off balance. Humora was no match for the water-bending Honyo, but Raedie and Fasku were evenly matched with fire bending.  
Humora was quickly waterblasted off the platform by Honyo, but while Mirai was trying to regain his balance, Ellna sent Honyo off with an earth blast. Mirai gained back his stance just in time to counter Ellna's next attack on him, and he in turn sent a rock flying back at her. She dodged, but the rock hit Raedie instead, knocking her down to the platform. A single fire blast from Fasku made her dodge into the water. Meanwhile, Ellna advanced, hitting Fasku with a blast of sandy earth. The sand distorted him, but Ellna was distracted by her almost-win, so Mirai used the moment to strike. Mirai was fast-fast enough, certainly-but he didn't see Ellna's defense coming. She pulled up an earth disc out of a hole on the platform, blocking Mirai's attack while with her other hand she sent another earth disc directly at Mirai. Mirai got knocked back-he was off-balance again-while Ellna sent another disc out of the hole towards Fasku. Fasku blocked, but lost his footing and tripped too close to the edge. He fell into the water with a messy splash. Mirai made the mistake of looking, and Ellna took the moment to send three earth discs at him, right in a row. They knocked him back! back! back! and splash! Mirai fell into the water that lapped around the platform's edge.  
"I win! Let's play again." Ellna said as Mirai came up sputtering.  
"You cheated!" He said as he climbed back onto the platform. The others, except for Taksu, were climbing back onto the platform too.  
"I did no such thing," Ellna said.  
"You crossed the center line. The rules were that you weren't supposed to cross the center line! And what was with pulling those discs up from the platform?"  
"They were there, they're made of earth, so I used them. And, if you'd been winning, you would have crossed the line to get a closer shot, too. This is a big area!"  
"You cheated, and now you're making excuses!" Mirai shouted as he pointed at her with his whole palm in an angry gesture.  
"We just haven't developed the rules enough! The game is a work in progress!"  
"We don't change the rules mid-game!" And with the word game, Mirai's life changed forever, making every moment before this one part of the past.  
A strong fire blast, red and hot, shot out of his hand, right at Humora. Ellna, nearby, ran and dove into Humora, but too late. The fire hit Humora full-on and hissed, as a steam cloud rose around her. Humora had been sopping wet, and the fire did nothing more than evaporate the water. The steam lifted, revealing looks of horror on Ellna and Humora's faces. The others shared similar expressions, including Mirai.  
"But...you're an earth bender," Humora said, clearly unharmed but very disturbed.  
"Only one person can bend more than one element," Honyo said.  
Everyone else had been thinking it already.  
"You're the avatar."  
Mirai turned and ran out of the arena.

"Mirai, Mirai, wait!" Taksu said.  
Mirai was gone.  
"I can't believe that just happened," Raedie said.  
"It's time to go home," Ellna said to Humora. "Mom and dad will be back soon."  
The three girls walked out.  
"This is the craziest day of my life," Honyo said.  
"We should be going, too," Fasku said. "We can walk you home," he said to Honyo.  
"Um...I live pretty close to the Spirit Wilds," Honyo said.  
"Us too," Taksu said. "So we'll be walking together anyway."  
They set off, back across the harbor and through the empty district. The sun was slanting down now, making long, sad shadows and causing a glare in the boys' eyes. The wind was in their ears, and they practically walked into the girls as they left the empty district.  
"Um, hi," Fasku said to Ellna. "That was a crazy game we played, huh?"  
"Um, yeah," Ellna said hesitantly back. "Don't normally meet the avatar when I'm playing a friendly game of bending."  
"Yeah, uh, sorry he got mad," Fasku said. "Have you seen him since then?"  
"No, don't think I want to, either," Ellna said.  
"Well, he's kind of our friend, and uh, I hope he's okay."  
"Yeah, I guess," Ellna said.  
"Say, maybe you guys could not say anything? About Mirai being the avatar?"  
"Sure, as long as he doesn't send any more fireblasts at my sister," Ellna said.  
"Okay. Nice seeing you again," Fasku said.  
"Yeah."  
The two groups parted ways, as the boys made their way towards the courtyard district and the Spirit Wilds and the girls headed towards the Fortified District.  
The boys dropped off Honyo and made it back to their home courtyard just before dark. Fasku and Taksu found that Mirai hadn't returned. Grandmother Sen was worried.  
"You mean you let him wander off, alone, and near dark? This is a dangerous place, near the Spirit Wilds, and there's talk about pirates being nearby. No one should ever wander alone! Don't you know, that poor boy is all I have left of his parents! All they wanted was for him to be safe, and then his friends influence him to run off?"  
Both boys ducked their chins.  
"Sorry, Grandmother Sen. We can go look for him, but we don't know which way he went."  
"No," Grandmother Sen said, waving her hand in the air, "best not to risk anyone else out at this time of night. We'll just have to hope he comes back soon. Now go see your father. He's waiting for you."  
With that, the boys ran across the courtyard to their own flat, where they stayed safe inside for the rest of the night.

Mirai didn't go home that night. He knew Grandmother Sen would be worried, but not as worried as she would be if she found out the truth. He would have to tell her-soon-but not tonight.  
He found himself wandering away from the courtyard district and towards a place where few people dared to go-the Spirit Wilds. It seemed appropriate right now, but really, Mirai felt like he was being called there. And, he'd be alone. Safe.  
Or maybe it would be that everyone else would be safe. Either way, Mirai was alone.  
Despite living so close and seeing it from a distance his entire life, Mirai had never been in the Spirit Wilds. It was worse than haunted, people would say, and a few people had been said to have gone in and never come out.  
Mirai would come out though. After he'd had some much-needed soul searching.  
He certainly had things to think about.  
Fire.  
Right out of his hand.  
"Fire is the most dangerous element," he remembered Grandmother Sen say when he was little. "Your friends might be allowed to shoot fire, but if it were you, I would not allow it if you were anywhere near other people. It's too dangerous."  
It was almost as if Grandmother Sen knew he'd become the avatar.  
The avatar. The most infamous person to ever walk on dirt. And now Mirai was that one person.  
"I can't believe it," Mirai said, burying his face in his hands as he slumped against a withered tree. "I'm all of the sudden the most hated person in the world."  
How long he sat there, he didn't know. It became very dark. The trees no longer had beautiful leaves and flowers, but they were thick, dense; they cast eerie shadows during the day, and created strange, shifting shapes at night, almost as if the shadows were alive.  
Mirai watched one as it flitted between the trees. Of course it wasn't the shadow of a tree. It was the shadow of a person, or an animal or...a forest spirit.  
Mirai tensed. How was one supposed to act around a forest spirit? Would it just sneak up to him and snatch him into the spirit world?  
It crept closer, and then, in the faded light of the half-moon, it came into view.  
It was a white polar bear dog, small and cute, but with sad, old eyes.  
It came straight to Mirai and nuzzled against his leg. It didn't seem like a scary spirit animal. Mirai reached down and rubbed his fur.  
It didn't seem like a regular animal either.  
It backed away and with a little yip started to head away, but it paused several times to see if Mirai was following.  
"Okay," Mirai said, his voice falling dead in the forest, "I'll follow you, strange spirit animal, even though you're probably going to lead me to my swift and sudden doom."  
The polar bear dog gave Mirai a shocked look.  
"No offense," Mirai said hastily.  
It wasn't as dark as Mirai had originally thought, thanks to the light of the moon. The polar bear dog led Mirai in and out of the shadows, sometimes disappearing for a second here and there in the dark.  
Mirai followed, on almost perfectly even ground. Perhaps this had once been a street in the city, before the Spirit Wilds had taken over. The polar bear dog rounded a corner, as if he were turning onto a new street.  
"Hey wait!" Mirai yelled as he ran to catch up.  
He rounded the corner. In front of him was an old woman, and her eyes were glowing. She stood erect, but her face and arms were wizened and her hair was white and gathered down into two pony tails on either side of her face.  
"Um, you must be the Avatar, the legendary Korra," Mirai said.  
"As are you," the woman said. "You have finally answered my call to come to my home, and we can now begin training."  
"Training?"  
"Your earth bending skills are acceptable, but you have only made fire once. We will start there."  
"But, I don't want to fire bend. I could have hurt someone today." Mirai crossed his arms.  
"You must restore balance to the world!" Avatar Korra yelled. Her eyes glowed brighter for a moment, illuminating the space even more. Mirai gave a surprised yelp.  
"The world is restoring balance without me. It's just taking some time is all."  
"It's not fast enough!" Avatar Korra yelled. It seemed like spirit-world spittle had come from her mouth.  
Mirai didn't yell this time, but he jumped back.  
"Not very patient, are we?" Mirai said as he wiped moisture from his sleeve.  
"Patient?" Avatar Korra said angrily. "I've waited sixteen years to begin training you, foolish new Avatar. Do you not know what a horrible mess this world is in? I fought so many enemies, so many...it is time for you to right the wrongs of the world. Keep evil from advancing! Restore balance!"  
"I don't know that I want-" Mirai began.  
"You will come with me and you will learn!" Avatar Korra reached out her spirit hand and grabbed Mirai's arm. She dragged him along behind her, into darkness and the unknown.

~~~

Far away from Republic City-and the rest of the world, it seemed-where not even the clouds could reach, a tiny village slept peacefully. The chill air did not bother the residents, but many slept restlessly that night. Indeed, many thought they had awoken, and saw a strong man with ancient tattoos walking amongst them. Everywhere he walked, the stones became brighter and cleaner. On occasion he would put out his hand and touch something, like a pillar or a wall, and it it would become clean and clear. Some had paintings on them, and some were simply reparied to their former state. The man laughed and jumped, and landed on a stone dias that appeared in the middle of the air. As the man walked on the dias, it became clear that it was attached to the cliff above the village.  
The man moved on, sometimes taking great leaps through the air, and always landing on something new. No, something that had once been and could be again.  
How long the dream went on, no one knew. No one remembered the whole dream, in fact, no one saw the same thing. But as they shared the next morning, they realized they had all seen different parts of the same dream, with the same man and his ancient tattoos leaping through the air as he laughed at gravity.


End file.
